FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Colombian National Convicted On

Cocaine Charges
Former Member of Colombian Senate Faces
Lengthy Prison Sentence
WASHINGTON—Samuel Santander Lopesierra, a former member of the
Colombian Senate, was convicted for conspiring to unlawfully import cocaine into
the United States, the Justice Department announced today. The jury found that
Lopesierra and his group were responsible for smuggling shipments of hundreds of
kilograms of cocaine into the United States, and for laundering the proceeds so they
could be repatriated through Puerto Rico, New York, and Miami back to Colombia.

Lopesierra is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and fines of up to

$4 million. The jury verdict was returned on June 27, 2006, and came after a seven-
week long trial before the Honorable Richard J. Leon, United States District Court
for the District of Columbia. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 27, 2006.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict as to Lopesierra’s co-defendant, Dolcey

Padilla Padilla, also a Colombian national, and Judge Leon declared a mistrial in
this defendant’s case today.

Lopesierra is a former member of the Colombian Senate — representing the

Department of La Guajira from 1993 to1996 — and a partner in a family business
that imported cigarettes and whiskey into Colombia. The defendants were indicted
in September 2002, along with 12 other Colombian nationals, following a two-year
investigation conducted by the Colombian National Police with the assistance of the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. That investigation, titled “Operation
Conquista,” resulted in the seizure of more than 650 kilograms of cocaine and more
than $1.5 million in United States currency and disrupted one of the largest drug
trafficking groups operating along Colombia’s north coast.

“The conviction of Lopesierra highlights the extensive and ongoing cooperation

between the United States and Colombia in cutting off the flow of illegal drugs,”
said Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher for the Criminal Division. “Our
nations will continue to work together, transcending borders to bring to justice those
who target Americans with illegal drugs.”

The case was prosecuted by trial attorneys Robert Feitel, Michael DiLorenzo,
Carmen Colón and paralegal Laura Wexler of the Criminal Division's Narcotic and
Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), and comes less than a year after the prosecution
and conviction of William Martinez, former congressman in El Salvador, by NDDS
trial attorneys. These convictions are part of the Department’s ongoing initiative to
identify, investigate, indict, and extradite for trial those international drug traffickers
who unlawfully import illegal controlled substances into the United States.

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